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Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
In ﾓThe Running Man,ﾔ Stephen Kingﾒs short story-turned-movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, prisoners are given a second chance if they agree to partake in a television game show. The catch? Theyﾒre let loose to fend for themselves in a ﾓkill or be killedﾔ blood sport.Rockstar Gamesﾒ ﾓManhuntﾔ -- previously released for the Sony PlayStation 2 and now available for the Microsoft Xbox and PC -- features a somewhat similar premise and grim foreshadowing of future entertainment. But in this game, itﾒs you who must do the killing. And lots of it. Parents, or anyone sensitive to video game violence and gore, must be aware ﾓManhuntﾔ raises the bar for each. Itﾒs not just part of the game, it is the game. But while itﾒs gratuitous, it is never taken out of context. Players assume the role of James Earl Cash, a death row inmate who awakens in the dilapidated Carcer City with a mysterious voice in his head. Speaking into the earpiece is a shadowy figure known as ﾓThe Director,ﾔ who instructs Cash to fend for himself amongst other criminals in his seedy surroundings. Hundreds of video cameras are placed inside and out of buildings to record his every move, which serves as the third-person view of all the game-play.  Cash is reluctant to be a pawn in this sick game, but doesnﾒt have much of a choice as street gangs and psychopathic killers begin to hunt him down. The Director offers Cash some disturbing words of encouragement: ﾓGood work, now give me some honest-to-goodness Grade-A goreﾅas far as youﾒre concerned theyﾒre meat.ﾔ While there are plenty of weapons to find and use in the game ﾖ ranging from plastic bags and baseball bats to shards of glass and eventually, guns ﾖ ﾓManhuntﾔ encourages stealth instead of noisily running around the streets with brute force to find the next victim. Cash must hide in the shadows, pay attention to the material heﾒs walking on (gravel is much louder than cement, for example) and tip-toe up to unwary victims to perform his ﾓtasksﾔ for the hidden cameras. Some kills switch to a close-up, cinematic replay, complete with blood sprays on the ﾓcameraﾔ lens. Once again, ﾓManhuntﾔ is a mature title that may easily offend. Eventually, Cash is determined to stay alive long enough to find out who The Director is, so he can hunt him down and put an end to his twisted game. The PC version was used for the purposes of this review, which includes high-resolution graphics and 3-D sound, the latter of which can be very helpful to determine enemy activity around you. Depending on the sound card used, ﾓManhuntﾔ supports various audio technologies including Creativeﾒs EAX and Microsoftﾒs DirectSound. Because of on-screen instructions at the beginning of the game, the controls are easy to pick up. Mouse and keyboard buttons can be reprogrammed if desired, plus this title supports an optional game pad so it could feel like its console counterparts. ﾓManhuntﾔ does succeed at delivering an intense stealth action game experience, wrapped in this disturbing, futuristic premise. Because the player starts each level at a disadvantage ﾖ outnumbered and with no weapons ﾖ the game does a fantastic job at building suspense and anxiety. Kid Factor This is not a game for children (or most adults). Itﾒs violent to an almost pathologically depraved extreme. There is ample satire and Brian Cox is on-hand to make the experience worthwhile for adults, but this is not a game for children. Theyﾒre just not mature enough to deal with the carnage and freedom to kill this game offers. We donﾒt recommend this game for anyone under 18 years old ﾖ and we hesitate to recommend it for anyone older than that. Kid Factor by GamerDad Reviewerﾒs Recommended Ages: 18+ ESRB: M-Mature Developer: Rockstar North Publisher: Rockstar Games Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Manhunt |
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